Conjugated nanohoops provide a platform
to study structure–property
relationships; they are attractive hosts for supramolecular chemistry
as well as promising candidates as new organic materials. We herein
present [n]cyclodibenzopentalenes ([n]CDBPs) as antiaromatic analogues of [n]cycloparaphenylenes. Platinum-mediated macrocyclization of dibenzopentalene
boronic esters provided the trimer and tetramer with strain energies
of up to 80 kcal mol–1. In the solid state, the
cylindrical [4]CDBP molecules align to form columnar structures. The
larger hoop [4]CDBP binds both fullerenes C60 and C70 with temperature-dependent exchange behavior, providing
higher activation energies for the exchange compared to [10]CPP. The
antiaromatic character of the [n]CDBPs paired with
the cyclic conjugation leads to high HOMO energies and lowered LUMO
energies with band gaps below 2 eV. This work presents a new class
of the antiaromatic and nonalternant curved nanocarbons with intriguing
supramolecular and ambipolar optoelectronic properties.
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